Woman Gets 3-Year Term In Underage Fatal ATV Wreck Case

BLACKSHEAR — A Blackshear woman was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for furnishing alcohol to minors in February after she pleaded guilty to the charges in connection with a four-wheeler wreck that injured two teens and claimed the life of another, said Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett.
Charity R. Fannin 37, pleaded guilty to three counts of furnishing alcohol to minors in April in Pierce County State Court, said Bennett. Judge Dan Bennett had at that time scheduled her sentencing for Thursday.
The sheriff said Judge Bennett sentenced her to 12 months in the county jail for the first count, providing alcohol to the fatal victim of the crash, Matthew Dewayne Rewis, 14, of Alma.
Judge Bennett then sentenced her to 12 months on each of the other two charges, furnishing alcohol to two other minors, those to be served concurrently after the first sentence has been served, the sheriff said.
“I was in agreement with the sentencing,” Sheriff Bennett said. “I think too many people ignore that law. This case was a tragic reminder of what happens when adults make poor decisions for their children and other people’s children.”
The fatal accident occurred on Feb. 5 on Clark Road in Pierce County at 7:05 p.m. Three boys were riding a 2015 Polaris Ranger on Clark Road, headed eastbound, when they rounded a lefthand curve.
According to the accident report, the ATV traveled for 164 feet before making contact with the roadway with the left front of the vehicle. The ATV vaulted end-over-end.
The ATV was equipped with seatbelts but they were reportedly buckled behind the occupants at the time of the crash.
Rewis was critically injured in the crash and died the next day at UF Health in Jacksonville, Fla.
The names of the other two boys were not released.